Jay Huh

Yesterday I gave away our own branded magnetic cell phone holders. I have 1000 of them and get cost me about $1.20 each. I have them in all my cars and there's a big logo staring back at me everytime I get in my car before slapping my cell phone on it. Customers LOVE it bc those things work really really well.  I saw a while back someone was giving away air freshners with oil changes and I thought that was a great idea. For some reason small things make customers happy. 

On a side note, bulk of the $10k is from long double ended box wrenches that are awesome

7 minutes ago, AndersonAuto said:

Like Joe said, more info would be needed to make a full diagnosis, but there are a few things we can glean from your post.

First, your labor rate on your master tech is low. If he's producing most of your hours, you need to base your labor rate on his pay. You should be targeting 70% GP on labor, so divide his pay rate by .3.

Also, I would be looking at what your Effective Labor Rate is with your current sales mix. Divide your labor sales into the labor hours flagged. Divide your ELR into your door rate to determine what percentage you're off. If your ELR is 85% of your door rate, then when you adjust your door rate to reflect your desired labor GP, increase it by 15% more to compensate for your ELR. This will compensate for the low labor rate on flushes etc. You might find this a little strong for your taste, but get something, a few bucks goes a long way.

Friends and family are a real problem. In my shop the only friends are my friends. And I mean friends. People I actually do things with on the weekend. I've found over the years that there are a lot of people who want to call themselves your friend when it's time to get their car fixed. Those are acquaintances, not friends. Your employees friends are not your friends. There's no reason for your employee's friends to get a discount from you. Family is family. Family includes your parents, and anyone who lives in your house. Cousins don't count. Sister in laws don't count. If they aren't your parents or they don't live in your house, they are extended family, and they get no discount. Been down that road way too many times.

Hope this helps.

Thanks, i will do some calculation tonight. But you are right. I have people coming out of woodwork calling me a friend when it's time to get their car repaired. You and Joe have been doing this a long time and I appreciate the advice on the discounting - might not be able to stop it completely but I will try and nip it where I can

3 hours ago, Joe Marconi said:

There is a lot more information needed before I can really determine what is going on with your business.  However, we can draw a few general conclusions.  

It's not so much your prices or labor rate that is the problem, but how efficient and productive you are. In other words, how much labor is being produced per hour by your techs?  You could have a $150.00 labor rate, but if a tech only produces $300 in labor in an 8 hour day, that translates into $37.50 per hour for that day, for that tech.   

You need to look at production, the type of jobs you are selling, you customer base, your profit on parts.  And too much discounting is a sure way to go out of business.

By the way, EVERYONE of my customers are family and/or friends, but I don't discount a dime. 

Good luck and I hope this helps.

 

 

Thanks Joe! Love the way you put it about friends and family. Looking forward to seeing you in person in Sept!

Haha, yes I think I do have ADD but never been correctly diagnosed  

I am surprised you remembered all my posts, but yea I have been through a lot these past 2.5 years. I love and I hate it lol

Make sure to have a "schedule appointment" on your webpage where it is convenient. 70% of our appointments are through online scheduling. People love doing things online nowadays. Me too, I rather schedule online rather than call in. Keeps our phones from ringing off the hook too. On our specials page, I have a "schedule appointment" on every single box.

http://carmedixnc.com/specials/

This is also our landing page for our google adwords. It's been working extremely well as customers love knowing prices upfront and avoiding interaction (esp the millennials) 

Got my own branded flashlight, ordered 500 of them from Alibaba.com - talked to a bunch of suppliers and bought 500 for a good deal.

I got my own branded long double box end wrenches as well being manufactured right now. Also ordered magnetic phone holders (1000 of them) and 200 OBDII wifi code readers. Spent about $10k, trying to get my name out there and earn some extra money on the side.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Carmedix-Super-Bright-Rechargeable-LED-Water-Resistant-Flashlight-for-Mechanics-/272713331814?epid=16002924438&hash=item3f7efb3466:g:JzIAAOSwrfVZPg0r

https://www.amazon.com/Carmedix-Rechargeable-Resistant-Flashlight-Mechanics/dp/B072MPMQ5P/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501210798&sr=8-1&keywords=carmedix

I am new to listing products and advertising, what do you guys think? I took all the pictures myself. 

Thinking about giving away the magnetic phone holders with oil changes. Has a nice big logo on it and customers will see it when phone is removed.

I like the idea of arming my loyal customers with code readers. I know it's controversial but for my loyal customers, it'll be good. When making a appointment, they can tell me the code in which I can tell them it's a emergency or schedule them my next available. I will also know if I need to schedule for a smoke test or diagnosing a misfire.

thanks for sharing, I live 10 min from Cary - I am going to the R+W conference held that same week in Chicago - going to both might be overdoing it but  I definitely want to

I am struggling with GP. My master tech gets paid $28/hr plus bonus and he hits bonus every week. He is the only one that is really producing at my main shop - hit 72.25 hours last week. My labor rate is $80 but we have a $60/hr option for friends/family. Waaay too many people are becoming friends/family.... also with flushes and canned jobs, some equal out to be $50/hr labor rate. With some customers, we give $50/hr bc misquoted labor times and such or giving away discounts.

Started with my techs making $17/hr.... now minimum they make $22.50. I have to raise my prices.... again

Hey tyrguy, definitely appreciate your concern. Yea it's tough when you have a car with ball joints about to pop out or severe tie rod play and they can't afford it. 

Once, I had a customer with the front inner pad completely gone - gone as in MISSING. I have actually seen several of those but only one situation where they declined the work!!! I think back then, I was only charging like $140 for pads and rotors...... $60 for pads including parts..... they ignored my advice and demanded their car back. The husband gets in a newer car, the wife and kid gets in the car with no brakes.......

I pay them $425/month for my first location. I get a lot of views through them but I don't think it's worth it, I rather spend the $425 on Google Adwords on top of the $2k im spending already.

Yelp would not freakin leave me alone so I finally gave in bc they offered to make a video too  (which I had to heavily edit, they really do a sorry job). 

Yelp customers are also one of the most entitled customers I have ever seen and difficult to keep happy, I know bc I am one. Nowadays I don't leave bad reviews bc I know how it can mess up a business.

My advice? Put money into Google. Also this might be controversial but I am having good results with Repairpal - it's only $199/month.

I did a 3 month contract because I was afraid of commitment but it's been over a year now....... why am I still doing it? Don't feel like talking to them, I hate talking to Yelp and the pushy sales people. Also, I am ranked really high with them, if you search "auto repair durham," the first website that comes up is Yelp's top 10 best automotive shops in Durham, NC. We are number 4 on that list. If you search by zipcode (27713), we are #2 on Yelp page (second to one of the best shops in the area that's been there for over 20 years, we are only 1.5 years old). I hate visiting my Yelp page bc it's only 4.5 stars and some of the reviews on there make me cringe. It is embarrassing and it could get to the point where the bad reviews will make it so new customers don't come anymore.

Hey guys, so here's the update. A LOT has happened in the last few months and I have learned TONS. I have been super busy and haven't been on the forums at all - but I saw a lot of activity on the post and there's actually a worthwhile update.

First thing to note was that once I opened my second and third shops, my car count went up as well. My Google rankings for the first shop is pretty good but it went up after opening 2nd and 3rd locations (not sure if google has algorithms for this). I opened 2nd and 3rd back to back months.

All 3 shops I have running and self sustaining. I just drive from shop to shop to shop making sure all goes well and I fill in where needed. What I have learned is, location and demographics are really really really important for opening multiple shops.

I've had customers drive 30+min away to come to me so I have a lot of loyal customers. Whether I have just the 2nd shop or just the 3rd shop, 75% customers would come anyway as they live between the 2. In my experience in these past months, I gained 25% new customers that were local to the new shops. The third shop has been doing much better because the demographics are better- my second shop is in a poorer neighborhood and sales have been abysmal from local customers - absolutely not able to upsell - even metal to metal rotors, they reject rotors and we have them sign a waiver.... I actually have had a few homeless customers. Now there are a small handful that drive from further South that are good but they would have came to me no matter what. I realized this last month so I decided to close the 2nd location and keep the third. It worked out because it wasn't too difficult to get out of the lease- worked it out so that I just had to pay 2 months rent upfront. Last official day open is this Friday. I keep my customers anyway and the 25% I lose out on are the customers that I don't want....

I think I will open another 3rd location though, but I think I have to be more strategic on the location - I will wait longer for better cash reserve and spend more on a nicer looking location with higher end clientele.

Just to give you guys some numbers- my first current shop opened last Feb. Last month the first shop was around $6-$7k profit - (after all expenses including payroll for myself).
2nd shop which I opened Feb lost $3k
3rd shop which I opened in March showed profit just south of $1k (after all expenses)

If you are planning on opening a second location, I'd do it as long as the location is good. I would make it at least 30 min away from the first one though and I'd only do it if your first shop is profitable. 

Do I regret opening the second location? Not at all, yes I lost money but going from 3 shops to 2 shops... 2 shops is now a cinch. 

I opted to not show part numbers on customer invoices on my shop program bc online parts are waaaaaay cheaper. I don't even mark up my parts that much and it makes me look like I'm robbing them 

Yea I've noticed that we have a pretty large female customer base that calls the shots AND ive noticed that it's the women that find us online! I always ask customers how they found us, this is a ongoing response: "my wife found you guys online and said you have great reviews."

so for me me a lot of times the husband brings the car but the wife finds us online.  Now that's completely different than tv commercials. I can see how it'll work the other way around with tv

well said as always Gonzo

The shop next door to us had really really bad reviews. I checked like 3 weeks later and they were above the 4 star mark. I asked the advisor what happened and turns out he contacted every single customer- even those that left a review years ago. It was the same situation, bad people that got fired. Not really sure what he said that changed their mind but it worked. Not sure if he enticed them with a free oil change or whatnot but maybe just be honest and tell them you had bad employees but they're gone now, offer them a free service and have them rate you again with the latest visit

1 hour ago, jfuhrmad said:

Yesterday I ordered a TPMS sensor at 3:15.  This dealer can usually deliver in 30-60 minutes.  They called at 5:42pm to say that their driver didn't show up for work.  Ended up putting a rubber valve stem in temporarily to get customer on their way.  At least the customer was understanding.

That is a pretty amazing customer

5 minutes ago, Joe Marconi said:

Many shops are experiencing a slower than expected spring in pockets around the country.  The shops that are doing good are those that are proactive with sales and vehicle inspections.  If you wait for the customer to come to you and tell you to service or repair their car....good luck.  

You must view every car as opportunity and looking at the entire car.  

Also, every car in your shop today will need future service and repairs. Make sure those cars come back to you. Book the next appointment and plan out their total car care.

I don't have all the answers, but sitting on your hands and wondering where the work is not a viable strategy. 

I like the idea of scheduling the next repair. I want to implement it asap. It's like going to the pediatrician, we always get scheduled for the next appointment, often 2 months ahead. We then schedule our lives around that appointment. Thanks Joe

Wondering how everyone did April. There are 4 other shops in the same shopping center as one of my shops and they said they were really really slow. Talked to various parts stores and they said everyone was slow. Friend owns a busy shop and he said it was slow. Seems like everyone had a great March though.

20 hours ago, carolinahigear said:

I bought 6 jugs today at $99 each from AutoZone. We charge $19.95 per pound. If the car holds 1.7 pounds we charge for 1.7 no matter how much came out. We love A/C work!!

did you have to buy 6 in order to get that price?

The only problem I see from opening late is that commercial parts stores are closed. Napa closes at 6 and there are no delivery drivers past 5:30 for most other stores.

Saturdays are our busiest days but I opted to close Sat for 2 out of 3 stores so I can give my employees weekends off/ have rotating Sat. 

One of the things I am trying to figure out right now is opening hours for my 2 new shops. With having to pay overtime, extended hours makes overhead a killer. One of my shops hours is only 9-5 mon - fri - 40 hour work week for my crew. We have a nightdrop box and options for picking up after hours. Hard to gauge if I am losing customers from the limited time I am open.

My first shop hours were 7:30am - 6pm Mon- Fri and 9am - 3pm Sat. I changed that a few months back to 8:30 open time

Yelp..... I use to love Yelp and was an elite yelper when I didn't own a business. I got so sick of the damn sales calls that I finally relented in giving them my business for $425/month. I wanted to make a video for my site anyway and they offered to make one..... I had to edit the crap out of that thing. You can see the Yelp video on my yelp page and the edited version on my website.

Anyway, not sure if Yelp is worth it. I get a few yelp customers but I am more afraid to cancel because I fear that I am going to get a bunch of negative reviews. I think me paying for their service is shielding me from the negative reviews. Yea, maybe I'm paranoid but I have my hunch.

It's like the mafia, I am paying them $425 to let me continue doing business in peace lol. O yea, I did get  A LOT of calls for rim repair....... all from Yelp. Haven't been lately so maybe they fixed it

Last year I got a 30lb tank of R134a for $69 at Advance. NOW it's $149! I found $138 at Autozone. Cheapest is Sam's club for $120 but gotta pay sales tax...

What gives? I wasn't in the business when R12 got phased out. Same thing happening to r134a?

I was actually going to post something else but Autoshopowner saved this post that I was going to post a couple weeks ago..... guess I forgot to post it lol.

Has anyone had a bad day? I knocked down 3 beers after work and finally getting to a point where I'm not pissed. I am usually a really positive and upbeat and let things slide.

Had a tech do a oil pan gasket. Car came back, got it on a lift and saw within 3 seconds it was missing an oil pan bolt. Careless error- really out of the way for the customer to have to come back.

Same tech allowed master cylinder to run dry on a Ford. I literally spent the day bleeding that thing- from taking the master cylinder off to bench bleed to removing the lines to the HCU. I went through 2.5 gallons of brake fluid in all. I typically don't work on cars anymore, if I do, then either we are really busy or we have a problem. 

I don't charge "shop supplies" even though it is common practice. When I was working for big chain stores, I had so many customers complaining about shop costs - even with a sign hanging up. So if we use a can of brake clean, I charge seperately. Now if it's one ziptie or one fuse... I dont charge...

Like the other day, I charged a customer MAF sensor cleaner bc I used it to clean electrical connections that were oil soaked and probably used about half a can. With this left over can, I will use it for someone else as a courtesy since the can has already been paid for.

I built brake clean into the price of doing brake jobs. We do so many brakes that brake pads are a canned job. I alot half a can of brake clean per car and of course we will have a bunch left over. It is then free to use it for cleaning things like oil leaks and so on and I don't have to charge the customer for it. People appreciate having upfront prices without all the "add-ons." for us it's just Parts, labor and sales tax.

Now I do want to charge supplies because that will just make it so much easier and I'm sure I'm losing money on supplies but I like advertising and letting people know that we are just parts, labor and sales tax. Customers like that

17 minutes ago, carbtech72 said:

Just got 10x on audiobook and "Think and grow rich" on Kindle. Ive been listening to 10x for a few hours before and after I open and close. Been reading think and grow rich but it seems to be a slow read so far. Ordered Slingshot and Internet marketing on amazon.

"Think and grow rich" is life changing. Buy the audio book and play it at 1.5x speed to get the overall picture. Chapter 7 is a must read.